1-1     By:  Brown                                            S.B. No. 1262
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 7, 2001; March 12, 2001, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
 1-4     April 3, 2001, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 3, 2001,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1262                 By:  Staples
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to the authority of an officer to return stolen property
1-11     to its owner.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Article 47.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-14     amended to read as follows:
1-15           Art. 47.01.  SUBJECT TO ORDER OF COURT.  (a)  Except as
1-16     provided by Subsection (b), an [An] officer who comes into custody
1-17     of property alleged to have been stolen shall [must] hold it
1-18     subject to the order of the proper court only if the ownership of
1-19     the property is contested or disputed[, except that if the officer
1-20     recovers, within 14 days from the date it was reported stolen,
1-21     property which is subject to Chapter 501, Transportation Code, the
1-22     officer need not hold the property subject to the order of the
1-23     proper court but may release the property to the owner, as shown on
1-24     the certificate of title].
1-25           (b)  An officer who comes into custody of property governed
1-26     by Chapter 371, Finance Code, that is alleged to have been stolen
1-27     shall hold the property subject to the order of the proper court
1-28     regardless of whether the ownership of the property is contested or
1-29     disputed.
1-30           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
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